Cybercrime-As-a-Service Takes Off 113
pnorth writes "Malware writers that sell toolkits online for as little as $400 will now configure and host the attacks as a service for another $50, according to email offers cited by security experts. A technical account manager at authentication firm Vasco said that cyber crime is becoming so business-like that online offerings of malicious code often include support and maintenance services. He said 'it was inevitable that services would be sold to people who bought the malware toolkits but didn't know how to configure them. Not only can you buy configuration as a service now, you can have the malware operated for you, too.'"
Honesty? (Score:5, Insightful)
Will the sellers be honest enough to give you all the money they drain from bank accounts?
Law enforcement (Score:5, Insightful)
So, if they're selling support, presumably there's a way to contact them, and if there's a way to contact them, shouldn't it be possible to identify them?
Are these activities not illegal?
Re:You really know when its a business... (Score:2, Insightful)
On torrent site's what?
Re:You really know when its a business... (Score:5, Insightful)
Some would point to the large sums of cash in the illicit drug trade as evidence that it can, but I point to the stratospheric markup on illicit drugs as evidence that the market is horribly inefficient. The markups show there's a shortage of suppliers - due in part to law enforcement, I'm sure, but being in the drug trade also means running the risk of being gunned down (or worse) by competitors. Personally I prefer a bit more regulation in my markets than that.
Re:You really know when its a business... (Score:2, Insightful)
It is because of that regulation (your business cannot exist) that drug dealers cannot seek any kind of arbitration, private or government.
Re:You really know when its a business... (Score:4, Insightful)
Totally not true. If there is enough money on the table, whole illicit governments will form to take care of the people's need for illicit arbitration and such.
That's the true nature of the "protection racket" and the danger to the legitimate government is that it can be supplanted by the illicit government.
The market exists. Whether free or not, open or not, the market has formed and exists. The best you can hope for as a government is to influence it in small amounts here and there to achieve your aims. Push too hard and you'll find that like a river delta, it routes around you or bypasses you entirely.
That is why prohibition is dangerous.
Re:Underground Revenue (Score:1, Insightful)
Sadly, the majority of terrorist funding comes directly from the FBI and CIA.
Re:Law enforcement (Score:2, Insightful)
Wow. That letter gets a +10 insightful. It's a shame that the very people who most need to read (and more importantly THINK ABOUT) its contents never will. Even were the subject not the #1 taboo of the Western world, the fact that it's a small minority being targeted means that the average person simply won't care. After all, small minorities who indulge in far lesser taboos (like the canonical example of pot growing) are rotting in jail and the average person doesn't care.